Table 2. A sample section of the data table generated by the tracking system diagramed in Figure 3^a,b.

	Site addressc	Pick-up date	Intake date	Item description	Testing location	Urgency	Comments	Swab taken?
FBI		10/9/2001	10/9/2001	Envelope (Westchester County)	NYCPHL			No
Hospital A		10/10/2001	10/10/2001	Blood culture	NYCPHL	Stat		No
Hospital B		10/8/2001	10/10/2001	Request for bacterial culture identification	NYCPHL	Stat		No
FBI		10/10/2001	10/10/2001	Petri dish	NYCPHL			No
NYPD			10/11/2001	One express-mail envelope sealed in plastic, addressed to United Nations	NYCPHL	High		No
FBI		10/11/2001	10/11/2001	Plastic bag with white powder; business card.	Wadsworth	Low	not enough info	No
FBI		10/11/2001	10/11/2001	Plastic bag containing one envelope with white powder.	Wadsworth	Low	not enough info	No

^aFrom left to right are fields for responder or site of response, site address, date of pick-up, date of intake, bag contents, location of testing, comments, priority, swab taken (yes, no), and patient (if clinical sample). This database allowed the managers to check the progress of sampling and keep track of the “who, what, where, and when” of the samples.
^b FBI, Federal Bureau of Investigation; NYCPHL, New York City Public Health Laboratory; NYPD, New York City Police Department; Stat, highest priority for laboratory testing.
^cMasked for security purposes.